Stratford. And as to his DAUGHTERS, Dr. Drake remarks: that “the daughters of SHAKSPEARE appear to have been like those of Milton, ignorant of the art of writing ; Judith, at least, in attesting a deed still extant, being under the necessity of making a mark: which is accompanied by the explanatory appendage of Signum Judith Shakspeare. The omission however is less extraordinary in the days of Shakspeare, than in those of his great successor; the education of women during the reigns of Elizabeth and James, being in general calculated, with a few splendid exceptions, principally in the upper classes of society, for the discharge of mere domestic duties; and when, to be able to read, was considered as a very distinguishing accomplishment."

Having indulged in testimonies from Dr. Drake in behalf of the positive excellence of SHAKSPEARE the young reader will be gratified with an extract on the compardtive merits of our GREAT BARD; it shall be taken from HAZLITT's interesting Lectures on the English Poets :

“ The four greatest names in English poetry are almost the four first we come to; Chaucer, Spenser, Shakspeare, and Milton. In comparing these four writers together, it might be said that Chaucer excels as the poet of manners or real life; Spenser as the poet of romance; Shakspeare as the poet of nature, (in the largest use of the term) and Milton as the poet of morality. Chaucer most frequently

describes things as they are; Spenser as we wish them to be; Shakspeare as they would be; and Milton as they ought to be. As poets, and as great poets,-imagination, that is, the power of feigning things according to nature, was common to them all; but the principle, or moving power to which this faculty was most subservient, in Chaucer was habit, or inveterate prejudice; in Spenser novelty and the love of the marvellous; in Shakspeare it was the force of passion, combined with every variety of possible circumstances; and in Milton only with the highest. The characteristic of CHAUCER, is intensity; of SPENSER, remoteness; of MILTON, elevation; of SHAKSPEARE, every thing !"

And finally, as to the fame or reputation of SHAKSPEARE, it has been increasing ever since his decease; and will contine to latest posterity

“Genius,” says Mr. Hazlitt, “is the heir of Fame, but the hard condition on which the bright reversion must be earned, is the loss of life. Fame is the recompence not of the living, but of the dead. The temple of Fame stands upon the grave; the flame that burns upon its altars is kindled from the ashes of great men. Fame itself is immortal, but it is not begot till the breath of Genius is extinguished. For Fame is not popularity, the shout of the multitude, the idle buzz of fashion, the venal puff, the soothing flattery of favour, or of friendship; but it is the spirit of a man surviving himself in the minds and thoughts of other men,-undying and impe

rishable! It is the power which the intellect exercises over the intellect; and the lasting homage which is paid to it as such, independently of time and circumstances, purified from partiality and evil-speaking. Fame is the sound which the stream of high thoughts, carried down to future ages, makes, as it flows, deep murmuring evermore, like the waters of the mighty ocean!"

I beg leave here, by way of conclusion, to recommend to the young reader a very neat edition of the Dramatic Works of SHAKSPEARE, which has recently issued from the Chiswick Press, in seven small volumes. It is accompanied with Remarks on the Life and Writings of William Shakspeare, by John BRITTON, F. S. A. written with a discriminating accuracy, and embellished by a frontispiece of the ancient dwelling-house at Stratfordupon-Avon, the birth-place of the Bard; and a representation of the Jubilee Procession. The woodcuts, which are numerous, are extremely well executed. See also Tales from Shakspeare, by Charles Lamb: Characters of Shakspeare's Plays, by William Hazlitt; and Schlegel's Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature, translated by J. Black, in two octavo volumes. Mr. Hazlitt justly observes, that this work of Schlegel, "gives by far the best account of the plays of Shakspeare, that has hitherto appeared."

As to the subject of this little volume, it is to be found in that beautiful drama of SHAKSPEARE

entitled As You Like It; which is noticed in the INTRODUCTION. The paragraph that I have denominated The Progress of Human Life, with the sentiment conveyed in the delineation of the series of characters, is nothing more than the developement of the Scriptural declaration: One generation passeth away, and another cometh, like the succession of waves on the sea-shore

TIME rolls his ceaseless course-the race of yore
Who danced our Infancy upon their knee;
And told our marvelling Boy hood, legends store
Of their strange ventures happ'd by land or sea,
How are they blotted from the things that be!

How few, all weak and wither'd, of their force
Wait-on the verge of dark ETERNITY

Like stranded wrecks, the tide returning hoarse,

To sweep them from our sight-TIME rolls his ceaseless course!

WALTER SCOTT.

But I have so fully illustrated this topic under the title of THE SEVEN AGES, that nothing more need be here advanced on the subject.

Such is the life, and such are the Writings of SHAKSPEARE. My difficulty hath been to rescue certain particulars from beneath an immense range of materials which have been accumulated on the subject. How far the object has been effected, the intelligent and candid reader must determine. dustry I have employed; and the humble praise of diligence respecting the whole work, will not, I presume, be denied me. I could easily have extended this Memoir, but fear I have already trespassed

In

Socrates used to declare, that the statuary found his figure in the block of marble, and striking off the superfluous parts, the form gradually presented itself to view! Rejecting all extraneous matter in the present Biography, my aim hath been to exhibit a few of the more prominent traits, both of SHAKSPEARE and of his writings, to the rising generation

Nor by the youth of both sexes, be the momentous truth ever forgotten, that it is not genius with its dazzling and overwhelming brilliancy, but VIRTUE emitting a mild and steady lustre throughout the humblest as well as the most elevated situations of Human Life, confers an unsullied and imperishable CROWN OF GLORY! This constitution of things the Supreme Being hath ordained for the amelioration and final happiness of mankind.